Away Back Gone

The Guardians have a world of possibilities in front of them at the 2026 trade deadline. While the expanded postseason has changed the way the deadline operates, the Guardians are in a position where seemingly everything’s on the table. Although they’ve made moves at each of the past two deadlines, they were largely expected. In 224, they addressed their one clear need by adding Lane Thomas, and last season they made the no-brainer decision to trade Shane Bieber ahead of his impending free agent.

Apr 5, 2026: Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor (23) reacts beside manager Stephen Vogt (12) after he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Progressive Field. Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Nearly three months ago, the Cleveland Guardians’ front office made a clear statement about Bo Naylor’s future with the club when they added Patrick Bailey to their roster at the expense of Naylor.

It is hard to believe we've entered the dog days of the MLB season and the trade deadline is just over a week away. As teams decide whether they will buy or sell, the next handful of days will likely determine many of their fates. The American League has been downright bizarre this season, as no team has been otherworldly, yet 12 of 15 teams either hold or are within six games of a postseason spot. As they tend to be, the Guardians are right in the thick of the playoff picture.

While a lot of attention at this year’s draft was put toward the team’s selection of Liam Peterson in the first round, the biggest selection from Cleveland’s draft haul may be the player they selected 194 picks after they selected Peterson with the No. 19 pick. That player is prep arm Savion Sims, who the Guardians took out of Prestonwood Christian Academy (TX) in the seventh round.

We’ve officially hit prospect re-rank season. With the draft in the rearview mirror and the trade deadline less than two weeks away, every prospect evaluator has started to release an updated version of their prospect rankings ahead of a time when every MLB team (including the Guardians) are open for business.

Every year you’ll hear team leaders from MLB compare the impending return of one of their injured players to that of a trade acquisition. But Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti is getting the rare chance to say that at the trade deadline thanks to Angel Martínez and Tim Herrin returning from the injured list today. Their returns are the final wave of injury reinforcements for the Guardians after José Ramírez returned from his hamate fracture earlier this week.

This is the version of Steven Kwan that Guardians fans are used to seeing. After starting the year with three rough months that led to him getting removed from the leadoff spot while also starting some serious conversations about his future with the club. But all that has seemed like a distant memory in July thanks to a vintage month where Kwan has been the most productive hitter in baseball.

In 2016, catcher Jonathan Lucroy became public enemy No. 1 in Cleveland without ever stepping foot on Progressive Field’s diamond. With the Guardians cruising toward an American League Central title and looking like a true contender, the team’s ownership group approved an all-in approach that resulted in them acquiring Brandon Guyer and Andrew Miller.

Earlier this month, the San Francisco Giants selected prep arm Carson Bolemon with the No. 36 pick in the MLB Draft. Normally, that selection would have been front-page news in Cleveland given the Giants nabbed Bolemon using the pick the Guardians traded to San Francisco as a part of their return for Patrick Bailey. But that hasn’t really been the case.

While Jhonkensy Noel finished his tenure with the Guardians with a negative bWAR due to his disastrous 2025 season, he’s always going to be beloved in Cleveland due to his fantastic game-tying home run against the Yankees in the 2024 American League Division Series. But it looks like he won’t get a chance to author one of those moments with the Baltimore Orioles, as he was released from the organization’s Triple-A team on Wednesday. He had been on the 7-day injured list prior to being released.